Second Falcon 9 rocket passes fuel test
The second Falcon 9 rocket passes fuel test in anticipation of an October 23 launch.
Tag: commercial
Our Debt Is More Than All the Money in the World
There is a lobbying push among a lot of space activists to get the House NASA authorization bill changed so that more money is spent for commercial space. Unfortunately for these activists, reality is about to strike (almost certainly on November 2). Also see this story: Our debt is more than all the money in the world.
With a new Congress almost certainly dominated by individuals who want to shrink the size of government, I doubt anyone in the space industry is going to get much of what they want in the coming years.
SpaceX readies Dragon for first flight
SpaceX is readying its Dragon capsule for its first test flight, sometime this fall.
Interview with Elon Musk
Spacevidcast has posted on YouTube as well as on their own webpage the first 10 minutes of a 20 minute interview with Elon Musk of SpaceX. You can see the full 20 miutes if you sign up for their Epic service.
For me, the interesting part of the interview is when he discusses the recent story about SpaceX’s plans to build a heavy-lift rocket, dubbed Falcon X. He explained that the proposal was not actually part of the company’s official plans. but the brainstorming ideas of one of the company’s engineers at an engineering conference. He also made it clear that he did not reject the idea. He likes giving his engineers the freedom to talk about such things publicly, even if the company is not yet ready to pursue them.
Iridium profits up
Rising from the dead. The satellite phone company Iridium, once bankrupt, reports strong growth in sales and subscribers.
August 8 WhiteKnightTwo test flight
Scaled Composites successfully completed the 34th test flight of WhiteKnightTwo today.
Bigelow’s plans
Enjoyspace.com has a very detailed and nice write-up of Robert Bigelow’s plans to build the first private space hotels.
Supercheap satellites
Want to build and launch your very own satellite? You can, for as little as $8,000!
India launches five satellites in one heave
India successfully launches five satellites in one heave. Even cooler, one of the satellites, STUDSAT, was built by students! Nor is that all. Immediately after the launch, India’s space agency head lobbied for a manned space program for India.